How to Save a Life
by wyvern-elavie
Summary: I’ve always joked with my parents that my life would begin with a needle and it would end with a needle." There's a fine line between drugs and medication. IF that line is crossed, people tend to get hurt. From there, the only option's to get better. AS/S
1. I Hate Medication

**Disclaimer:** All Harry Potter characters belong to JKRowling, and all of my characters (do I even have any?) belong to me.  
That was easy.

**A/N:** First Multi-Chap Fic in a looonnnnng time. Un-beta'd.

Chapter 1: I Hate Medication

_I've always joked with my parents that my life would begin with a needle and it would end with a needle. When I was born, the mediwitches found that I was severely anemic and that I was hemophiliac, though not extensively so. They stuck a needle in me and I was better. I imagine that when I die in the future, when I'm old and wrinkly and disgusting, that there will be an IV needle stuck in my forearm and when I finally tell my kids and nieces and nephews that I really am ready to go, they will take that needle out of me and I will finally be able to rest in peace._

_I never imagined that such musings would somehow actually come true._

--

Scorpius Malfoy scowled at the parchment he held in his hands as he slumped into the school nurse's office. Father had instructed the new mediwitch—a former assistant of the famous (rather, infamous) Madame Pomfrey—to ensure that Scorpius would take his iron supplements and take the injection full of platelets regularly.

Needless to say, Scorpius did not approve. From the day he could hold a needle up till his first day in Hogwarts, Scorpius had been able to do the shots himself—under his mother's watchful eye, of course. However, his father had mentioned to him that he was presently unable to do so because of lawsuits, liability, and the psychological impact it would have on Scorpius and his classmates or some excuse like that.

All Scorpius knew was that he didn't like it.

Scorpius thrust the note into the hands of the assistant prefect mediwizard and flopped on the indicated bed, bypassing the enchanted window that always showed a sunny and calm day. (He would later learn to hate that window with a passion.) He'd normally be able to run around after he'd taken his supplements, but the doctor had upped the dosage since he knew that Scorpius would be using more energy towards his magic now, and added some more medication to help quell any side effects of the medicine—which effectively kept Scorpius from running around outside with the other boys for a few hours. Fortunately, this routine would be kept to every weekend, so homework and classes wouldn't be such an issue.

He furrowed his eyebrows at the ceiling, as if threatened by its looming presence, and angrily blew at the hair that had somehow moved its way on top of his face. He hated his stupid doctor for giving him more meds. He hated his father for making him go to the stupid mediwitch. And he hated the stupid mediwitch for agreeing to such stupid arrangements. He could do it himself.

It just wasn't fair!

"What isn't fair?" came a voice to his right.

Scorpius shot up and looked at the bunk next to his. A scrawny little boy with tan skin and auburn-black hair was sitting on the edge of the bed, swinging feet that were nowhere near touching the floor. Scorpius had not detected the boy's presence before he entered and didn't see him walk in either. He noticed that the stranger had a bandage around his left arm, so at least it wasn't a trespasser or some other kind of miscreant that would happen to wander into the nurse's ward. (Why someone would want to sneak iinto/i the ward, Scorpius figured he would never know.) The boy's smile curved a bit upwards on the left side with an edge of curiosity. Scorpius believed he'd seen the boy somewhere before, but could not tell where. It was but a day after the welcoming ceremony, and they had yet to receive their house uniforms.

"Well? What's not fair?"

Scorpius huffed and plopped back down on the bed. "Life. I hate medication."

The boy lightly chuckled and flopped back on his own bed. "Me too. Isn't that what magic is for in the first place? So we don't need all this crap."

Scorpius rolled over in his bed towards his right and found the boy pouting and glaring at the ceiling, just as he had been moments ago.

He smiled. "My name is Scorpius Malfoy."

The boy turned his head and returned the smile. "Al Potter."

And that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.


	2. Daily Issues

**Disclaimer:** Albus/Scorpius/Universe/Other Things are all not mine. Yes. It is true.

**A/N:** Un-Beta'd, and I'm ashamed to say that there are probably a few typos in there too. Grr. Too lazy to look. Tell me when you find them, k?

Chapter 2: Daily Issues, Or So We'd Like To Not Think

Meeting Albus had become a regular occurrence for Scorpius over the course of they year. He and Al didn't get to talk much in class—despite attempts at inter-house socialization, competition was still as high as ever (just more friendly). So the few hours that the two spent laying in their respective hospital beds were very precious to Scorp.

Not that he'd ever admit it, of course.

Mush like _friendship_ and _time_ were such _girly concepts_. And Scorpius was most _definitely_ not a girl. And he had the man-parts to prove it.

He harrumphed as Madam WhatsHerFace continued talking about some subject or another—Scorpius had a fair idea it was about health or something like that. At his vocalization of his emotions, she gave him a glare and promptly ended the one-sided conversation. Not that he particularly cared. He didn't even know why she felt the compulsory need to talk to him. She wasn't obligated to do so. Scorpius liked Madam Evangale better. She left him alone and didn't talk him to death.

"Hey, Scorp," came the voice of one quirky Potter boy.

Scorpius sat up in bed and (very un-Malfoy-ily) grunted at his schoolmate. "Where were you? I was betting you'd fainted in the hallway or something and they had to run to catch you."

Which brings us back to the original point.

Scorpius had walked into the office, 5 minutes early to his scheduled time, as usual. He had taken his routine injections and various pills, and lay down on the bed, as he had done every time he'd been here so far. He began counting the number of lights on the ceiling. Albus generally got into this area of the ward by the 75th light—coincidentally, just a few lights before Scorpius would fall asleep from boredom. And that was quite convenient for Scorpius, since Albus sometimes missed his appointments.

However, this time, Albus had missed three appointments in a row.

"Sorry, about that," continued the previously missing Potter boy. "They're holding Quidditch try-outs on the weekends now—so the already existing practice schedule isn't interrupted—and it's a first come first serve basis. You could reserve a special try-out if you have a special recommendation from one of the team members, but James…" Albus trailed off, rolling his eyes. Scorpius understood. "We don't need that again."

The Potter children weren't the only one who made the papers and the fanlistings as Child Stars: The Weasleys (who were really Potters themselves… or rather, that the Potters were Weasleys), the Scamander-Lovegoods, and most notoriously of all, the Malfoys… or rather, the Malfoy. Meaning Him.

A moment of silence passed between the two, out of respect for one of the many taboo subjects between them as well for those that had been afflicted.

* * *

A Memory:

Late one night in the hospital wing, both students had missed their allotted time for medication due to a large-scale detention for the entire Slytherin-Gryffindor Charms class. Professor Weller was an uptight, OCD, woman, who wore her clothes wrinkle-free, her hair in a bun, and the desks in permanent placement charms (to prevent them from moving, she said, when asked). The detention meant that both their dosages and times of medicine were changed, which also meant that their sleep was impeded. A common side effect of Medicinal Potions was restlessness, especially in potions meant for minors. Albus and Scorpius's medicines were no exception.

Teddy had stumbled through the doors, that night, miraculously making very little sound. Even in the dim light, the two boys (the only ones in that night) could tell that he was red, flushed, and sweating. He closed the door behind him and slumped to the floor, not forgetting to lock the door on the way down.

The two boys sat up, looked at one another, and rushed towards Teddy.

Albus lightly shook his pseudo-cousin's shoulders. No reaction coming from the older boy, Albus tried again and vocalized in a shouting whisper. "Teddy!... Teddy! It's me, Al."

"Dreamless Sleep, Al. Top right cupboard by the third bed."

Al backed up reluctantly, "Are you sure, Teddy? I can get Mada—"

The bottle appeared in his face by way of a skinny pale hand. The hand shook the bottle lightly and retracted itself back to the body of its owner. Scorpius knelt next to Teddy, holding the bottle firm.

"What happened?"

Teddy tried reaching for the bottle, but Scorpius backed out with Quidditch-worthy reflexes.

The older Gryffindor sighed and muttered, "Slytherin Brat…" He sighed and shifted more comfortably against the door. He started in a low whisper, "they're going to catch us."

Al sidled up against Teddy, relaxing on the support as well. "Who?"

"The Prophet." Al had lated explained to Scorpius that Teddy had learned early on that Divination was one of his better subjects, his best actually. He did a little too well in that subject for a normal wizard to, but Aunt Hermione had shrugged it off as mere intuition. Uncle Harry, though, had pushed him to pursue it just a little further, if only as a hobby. You never know when it might come in handy, he'd told Teddy.

It had come in handy, sure. He had a few dreams where he'd meet girls or get a good grade on his Care of Magical Creatures test or something. More frequently, and more recently, he'd get dreams of the far future, most of which he wouldn't remember in a few weeks anyways. Each was still as hard to bear as the next. And Teddy didn't want to disappointe Uncle Harry. After all, he was a hero. And he was not just a hero, he was Teddy's Godfather.

Albus attempted coaxed Teddy into further explanation. "Too young for this…"

"No, you're not, Teddy. You're ancie—"

Teddy turned his head and stared into Albus' eyes. "I meant you. It's not—shit, Al! Don't look at me like that."

It was common knowledge that Albus was the most mature of the Potter kids—especially over James, and with that in mind…

"Your brother's in seventh year… and he looks so gorgeous… When doesn't he, really? I mean. He's only thirteen, but I know fifth years who were pining over him… The Prophet caught us. It was all over the papers. They wouldn't stop bothering us. Damn, Al, James was almost dying of it. He was going crazy insane. His temper…"

Albus's eyebrows quirked in confusion, holding tight to Teddy's form. "Caught what, Teddy? You're going to need more explanation than that to get the Dre—"

Once more, Albus was interrupted by a potion in his face. This time, it was in Teddy's hands.

"It's fine, Albus. Don't worry about it," came the voice of Scorpius, who seemed to understand. Albus took it that Scorpius would explain it to him later. At least, Albus hoped he would.

Teddy looked at Scorpius a little with incredulity and a lot with relief. "Thanks, mate." He sauntered over to a spare bed and drank up, making sure not to drink so much that he'd wake up late.

Scorpius took the bottle from Teddy's outstretched hand and smiled. "My father too."

Teddy smiled back. "Really? No wonder. Uncle Harry said Astoria was kind of random."

"That's what he said too."

The two exchanged knowing looks before the elder drifted off to sleep. Scorpius walked away and put the bottle in its proper shelf, muttering a quick refill charm he had learned from his family friend, Isabella Parkinson.

Albus unlocked the door, so as to not raise suspicion, and clambered back into his respective bed. He waited for Scorpius to get settled before speaking.

"So. You gonna tell me what Teddy was on about during that rant of his or am I going to have to force it out of one of you."

Scorpius seemed to glow red under the lighting, with anger or embarrassment, Albus couldn't tell.

"It's Teddy's business."

Albus whined, "Scorp, you spoilsport. You know that Theodore Remus Lupin isn't going to tell me a Snorcack's worth of information sober…"

Scorpius gave in. It wasn't that Al was very persuasive. In fact, he was far, far from it. Albus was too young for such things. Scorpius laughed at his hypocrisy. He was quite a bit younger than Albus when he first learned of such things. He figured it would be better for Al to learn of it now under good circumstances than later with bad ones. Scorpius wasn't entirely sure that he was the best one to make this call, but he also knew that Albus wouldn't stop pestering him or Teddy until he knew. And they both needed sleep.

"Fine."

Albus blinked in surprised. That was it? No rebuttals about how he's too young and how it's late and everything. That was easy. "Ok. So what?"

Scorpius shifted on his bed so his legs were hanging over the side and he was sitting up. It was easier to talk when he was actually looking at somebody, so that it felt like someone was actually listening.

"You know when a man loves a woman…"

Albus rolled his eyes, "Yes, yes, Scorpius. I know that part. The birds and the bees aren't hard to figure out."

Despite his irritation at Albus's persistence, Scorpius couldn't help but laugh at the boy. He wanted to act so tough.

"I'm not talking about the biological part of it, you git. I'm talking of the emotional part of it."

Albus replied with an embarrassed and curt, "Oh."

"It's ok. Anyways… such feelings can go other ways too. Like a guy could love another guy, or a woman could love another woman, in that way."

Scorpius waited for Albus to process this. He knew that Albus wasn't stupid, it's just that this was a bit much.

Albus was kind of confused. Sure Mom loved Lily and Dad loved Uncle Ron and of course Teddy would love James. Just not… like that. It was so obvious now. He hadn't even considered those options until Scorpius had mentioned them, for obvious reasons, of course. Such affairs were not talked about in the public eye. He figured mom and dad were going to mention it sooner or later, but now, he would at least be prepared for such. Still, it was a little unfathomable for Teddy to like James like that, especially since he and Victoire just got detentions from Professor Halyard for snogging in the hallways two weeks ago.

Albus concluded his thoughts with a chuckle and turned towards Scorpius. "And those blokes and ladies will be able to tell if they like each other just as the normal people with, right? Haha. That's so weird."

Scorpius was impressed. He was expecting Albus to take it worse… much, much worse, have insecurities and all that. But Albus was a fairly sheltered child, he knew that. Sure, he was well versed in the association part of the social part, but Harry had wanted his children to know the childhood he would never have the chance to have.

"Thanks for telling me, Scorp." Albus smiled and yawned, stretching across the bed. "Damn, after all that, I'm dead tired. Hn… Imma hit the sack. 'Night, Scorp." He turned into his covers and closed his eyes.

"You too, you stupid git. 'Night, Al."

Scorpius turned in as well and tucked himself in. He didn't go to sleep like he said he would. He stared up at the ceiling instead. He found the ceiling to be nice. Dim lights, calming, and just that sense of up. Scorpius figured that even if the ceiling were made of old parchment with years of Binns' essays layered on top of each other, it would still be enchanting, just for that sense of up.

It was nice that Al had accepted such concepts easily. Scorpius had not. His dad had told him when he was seven, hoping for the same objective Scorpius just had. It failed. Scorpius kicked and screamed at his father and the floor. Hurtful words had been said that day by both parties. Scorpius wondered if his father had ever really loved his mother. Draco had said that it wasn't really Scorpius's place to think such things. But it only brought them closer together. It was a way that Scorpius could relate to his father without feeling ashamed. One of the few.

And with that in mind, Scorpius felt content with the moment, that his friend just might be willing to stay friends with him during the time that Scorpius felt the need to explore that side of himself. Scorpius had someone he could rely on, and that's what mattered.

End of Memory


End file.
